The Snake Catcher

“The same old street,” murmured.Huseyin to his two sons and his wife,

“Look,” said his wife “Even the name of the street is same . They haven’t changed it.”

Huseyin wondered why it was called Infidel Imam Street. He could not get a reasonable answer to that question even when he lived in Mutallos, Turkish Cypriot Quarter of the town of Ktima..

The same question once more popped up in his imagination.

“yes,” said he to his wife” The same name and the same unanswered question . Why did they name it so? Was there a man of religion, a hodja, who lived here and had an affair with a Greek Cypriot lady ,or was he not as devout one should expect a hodja to be?”

His son Tema looked around him and said, “ I remember we as the inhabitants of this street, changed the name to Yılancı Mehmet, Mehmet the snake catcher.. We then placed the signboard carrying his name just beside Mehmet”s house.He so much liked the idea, he would not allow anyone to take it away.I remember it was their till the last moment we left.”

I instantly looked at the spot where the sign boad was.It was not there any more. . Obviously it was removed by the municipal authorities as the board did not carry the official name.

We looked at the door of the single room lodging where the snake catcher lived. It was locked.

Huseyin asked to the people who came out of their houses if anyone lived in the house.

An old lady said,”An old man used to live here. But he got so frightened of snakes in the lodging that he was transferred to another place..

Ulus, Huseyin’s second son said,”The snake would certainly have been one of the snakes the snake catcher kept. It got so much used to the place that even after the catcher left and went to the North it apparently continued frequenting the place.”

Every one became interested with the snake catcher

“I will tell you some of the stories about this person. I would first like to see the house that we used to dwell in.”

Their house was just on the corner of the street . It looked exactly same .Time had faded the paint of the door. Some people seemed living in the house.

Two men one an Iranian and the other a Pontus Greek lived there. The house was assigned to them by the Office of Rehabilitation and it contained only very few furniture.

“Nothing has changed “ said his wife Aysel. .”Not a single nail has been put “

One of the men said,”We are not allowed to make changes and repairs to the house without getting permission of the Office.”

When they got out Huseyin could not keep his eyes away from the snake catcher’s house.

Memories revived quickly and started running as if a roll of film.

He said to their Greek friends taking them around ,”He was an eccentric old man. He lived alone . He was cared by his relatives not living far. Even the neighbours did not spare anything that he from time to time asked for. What he would mostly ask was a plate of meal if he happened to notice that what the neighbours cooked was to his liking.

Huseyin said,”We did not have money to buy meat regularly and most of the time our dishes were without meat. One day he asked my wife what she had cooked and she said we would have beans. It was something he liked most, but when he saw there was no meat in the dish my wife heard him saying while walking away.”The bastard teacher. He is paid a pound of money but does not buy even an ounce of meat to put in his meals.”

” We were used to him and did not pay much attention to what he said .

“Well,” continued Huseyin,” You see open fields are not much away from here and inevitably snakes accedentally found there way into the houses. If it happened that people in Muttalos found a snake in their house the snake catcher would be called for his help and in the the panic and excitement of the inhabitants, to a safe shelter where the snake would not harm them, he would find the snake and holding it by the tail would carry it to his own house. Snakes became very usual in our street and whenever the snake catcher brought a snake home, we wondered what he would do with it.

One day a neighbour of ours said that if he was not on good terms with anyone around, he would let the snake free into his back yard. In this way he would ease his vengeance and above that he would be asked to catch the snake. Sure enough the fee he demanded would be high.”

Everyone got so much involved, they wanted to hear any more stories about the snake catcher.

“Well,” said Huseyin,

“The most exciting tale of his was on the day he brought a snake home under his shirt. It was warm and my wife and the lady living in the adjacent building were sitting in the small porch in front of our house. The catcher went in without saying hello to them and when inside my wife and the other lady noticed the snake catcher bringing out a snake he had under his shirt. Instantly my wife remembered that a few days ago he had a quarrel with Mr Tahsin, a retired policeman, married to the snake catcher’s niece.He had asked for something from them and Mr Tahsin could not provide it.

“She said to the other lady, “. He will surely leave the snake in Mr Tahsin’s garden. Go and let them know about it. Well, instead Mr Tahsin asking him about his intention, he went to the police station and complaint about the case to the sargeant in charge.

“The sergenat asked the policeman on duty to accompany him to the house of the snake catcher.

Mehmet, the snake catcher was inside. Both policemen went in. The sergeant stayed just at the entrance of the building while the other policeman walked up to the snake catcher. He was standing beside the fire place and Tunay, the police man, got out the packet of cigarettes he had in his pocket and offered one to the sergeant and one to the snake catcher.

“Uncle Mahmet,” said the sergeant Erol, “we were informed that you have caught and brought a snake to your house.”

“yes I did,” said the snake catcher.”Is it against the law to catch a snake? Is it a crime if I keep one in my small house here?”.

The snake catcher had a strong point there.

“No no,” said the sergeant.”Have you thought what things will happen if it escapes into the street? There are chidren playing around and it may bite any one of them”

The snake catcher became vexed with what the sergeant said, and raising up his voice he said,” When did the police began investigating snakes?. You say that the snake might bite the children. Have you until now asked yourselves whether this poor man is sick or hungry?.No,no! you are trying to make me a criminal.. Snakes are not as cruel as you. They only carry a small venom. But you are more venomous than this snake.” He said, and instantly got the snake which he was still keping under his shirt and placed it just in the middle of the room. Fear struck both of the policemen. The sergeant who happened to be standing at the door, escaped into the street at once, but Tunay, other the policeman instantly climbed into the snake catcher’s bed and began to implore him.

“Take your snake away uncle Mehmet,” said he

“You see you see,”said the snake catcher, and continuing said,” Now that you are in danger and fear has conquered your heart I have become your uncle. The snake is going to stay where it is “

There was no escape for the police man,.but he said ”I will give you five shillings if you remove the snake”. It was quite a bıg amount when you consider the amount of money a policeman used to be paid then

The snake catcher found the weak point ot the policeman and he would not let him go easily

“No no,” said the snake catcher.”I will not take the snake unless you pay me a pound.”

The policeman was not left with any other option but to pay him what the snake catcher asked for. To escape the danger h e stretched the one pound note to him

The policeman was relieved when the snake catcher bent and took the snake.

The snake catcher was satisfied with the money he got and with the two policemen following him from a distant, went to the edge of the cliff not very far from our street and let the snake go free.

“Well, the snake catcher also emigrated from here in 1975 .”

Huseyin said,” That man who felt himself the king of snakes did not live long when he came to the North. He all the time dreamt of snakes and could not endure the home sickness he felt strongly all the time in his bosom and soon later he died.”

Huseyin, his wife and his sons went round Mutallos which seemed squeezed out of its size.

“In our memory we all the time considered Mutallos was a very big place.”

Physically it was small but what made it large was the vast volume of memories.that he and his family bundled into it.

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